Published: March 2023

Keywords:
Ioanna Mitsika, Diavata, prison, dance, theatre, rehabilitation, reintegration, applied artwork.

Ioanna Mitsika

Dancer and choreographer. She is a member of the dance group ‘Vis Motrix’ and partner of the music group ‘Encardia’. She has been a teacher at the Professional School of Dramatic Arts Andreas Voutsinas since 2010, while she has implemented dance and theatre workshops in Diavata prison in Thessaloniki since 2008. She is a graduate of Professional School of Dance in Thessaloniki, holds a Law School degree (A.U.Th) and a postgraduate diploma in Labor Law (D.U.Th). She is a PhD candidate in the Department of Social Anthropology of University of the Aegean with a field of research on art in prison.

ioannamitsika@yahoo.gr

Abstract

This presentation refers to the theatre and dance workshops that had been implemented in the context of the 3rd SDE (School of Second Chance) in Diavata prison from 2016 to 2022 in Thessaloniki. Defining rehabilitation as a two-way dynamic process between society and prisoners, we can see how the art groups created inside the prison can contribute on two levels: through prisoners’ empowerment and through dialogue that art sparks when 'the public', society, meets the work of prisoners. Having the belief that reintegration begins inside the prison, the methodology used in the theatre and dance workshops aimed to empower the trainees so that, ultimately, they themselves imagine, desire, and strive for another place in the society to which they will return. This presentation took place at the Systemic Association of Northern Greece (SANG) Two-Day Conference in November 2022.